Previews

The Shield

The Shield is turning into a video game, and it doesn't look half bad. Read all about it.

Spiffy:

Inventive "interrogation" technique; non-linear choices, like turning confiscated drugs into evidence or selling them on the streets.

Iffy:

Graphics are so-so; and it's unclear how much action the game will actually have, since the show has a lot of talk.

FX's The Shield is apparently the most-viewed TV show among 18-34 year old males, which is good news to Sammy, who's publishing the series' upcoming video game adaptation. Our recent demo of the game at E3, though, left us with the feeling that the game is more than a lucrative attempt to cash in on the series' popularity. If we didn't know any better, we'd say that there are some genuine attempts to make The Shield both faithful to its source material, and compelling as a game experience in and of itself.

The game stars detective Vic Mackey, the series' roughneck, heavy-handed protagonist, and Shane Vendrell, his partner. You control Vic, the computer controls Shane, and together, you apparently will be able to break a lot of heads. See, just like his TV counterpart, Vic Mackey is the kind of cop that would make the LAPD's worst proud -- roughing up perps is one of his primary tactics, and he feels entitled to illegally acquire evidence as he sees fit (his "retirement fund" needs padding). What's interesting is that there are actual game mechanics built around these forms of corruption. Any potential perpetrators you encounter is a fair target for a physically assault, courtesy of Vic, and once you rough them up enough, you'll be able to persuade them to do your bidding by means of bashing their heads against walls, and such.

There's a fine line between loosening their tongues, though, and giving them a concussion, and therein lies the game's other interesting mechanic -- heat. Do your job in too "unorthodox" a manner, and you'll get heat from the department. Likewise, pad your pockets with too much ill-gotten loot, and you'll attract unwanted attention. While the consequences for getting busted aren't quite clear, our demo made it evident that you'll want to keep your heat level and the size of your retirement fund at a relative balance--something that the Sammy representative stressed would be fairly challenging.

As the subject matter would imply, firefights will play a fairly prominent role in the proceedings, but don't expect something along the lines of Max Payne. Rather, The Shield is taking a decidedly Tom Clancy approach when it comes to popping shots. Just like in real life, you'll probably die after a couple of well-placed shots, a decision made to preserve the integrity of the show. "When someone gets shot in The Shield, it's a pretty big deal," our host told us.

From a technical standpoint, the game is looking pretty solid, at this point, which is good news, given that it's not due for release till spring of 2005. The enemy A.I. seems impressively coherent, and the visuals are sharp and clean, with an impressive real-time lighting system, and serviceable physics. Vic Mackey's model doesn't quite look fully convincing, but hopefully time will allow its kinks to be ironed out. All in all, it looks like Sammy and developer Point of View are going all-out to make sure The Shield does its subject matter justice. We look forward to seeing more.